Derveni-Papyrus

The Derveni Papyrus is an ancient Greek scroll and one of the oldest known literary writings in Europe. Your age is estimated to be at least 2,500 years.

The papyrus was found in 1962 in the grave of a nobleman near the northern Greek village Derveni ( Macedonia). The scroll probably from the second half of the 5th century BC, was for decades as not translatable. It contains the philosophical treatise by an unknown author about the birth of the gods, probably from the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras.

In October 2006, the Greek archeology professor Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki announced that the complete decryption of the document had been successful. This new knowledge about the ancient world could be won. The papyrus contains mystical and technical information about ceremonies of the time, so Tsantsanoglou.

The text is very important for the afterlife in ancient Greece, according to philologists and archaeologists. The papyrus is the oldest surviving European manuscript.

The Derveni papyrus is kept in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

Text output

• The Derveni papyrus. Ed. with introduction and commentary by Theocritus Kouremenos, George M. Parássoglou, Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 2006 - ISBN 88-222-5567-4.